Patent Issued for System And Method For Providing Vehicle Services Based On Driving Behaviors (USPTO 10,915,964)

2021 FEB 23 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx journalists, a patent by the inventors Purgatorio, Ginger (Algonquin, IL); Minick, Gina M. (Evanston, IL); Mercado, Orlando E. (Rolling Meadows, IL), filed on March 3, 2015, was published online on February 22, 2021.

The assignee for this patent, patent number 10,915,964, is Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Insurance companies value the safety of drivers and the general public. Accordingly, rewarding safe driving behaviors is a matter of good policy. Although techniques exist to generally encourage safe driving, they might not provide a mechanism whereby drivers may earn rewards for engaging in safe driving behaviors, where the rewards are redeemable for vehicular services. Further, these techniques might not provide for non-insured drivers with the incentives to engage in safe driving behaviors.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “The following presents a simplified summary of various aspects described herein. This summary is not an extensive overview, and is not intended to identify key or critical elements or to delineate the scope of the claims. The following summary merely presents some concepts in a simplified form as an introductory prelude to the more detailed description provided below.

“A first aspect described herein provides a safe driving evaluation system. The safe driving evaluation system may include at least one processor. The safe driving evaluation system may be configured to, in operation, receive, from a telematics device, vehicle telematics data associated with a vehicle, select a set of safe driving behaviors, and determine a number of safe driving points based, at least in part, on a comparison of the vehicle telematics data to at least one of the safe driving behaviors. Based, at least in part, on the number of safe driving points, the safe driving evaluation system may be configured to, in operation, determine a safe driving reward, and provide the safe driving reward to an individual associated with the vehicle. The individual may be an insurance customer or a non-insurance customer.

“A second aspect described herein provides a gas pump. The gas pump may include at least one processor, and an input device, and a gas dispenser configured to, in operation, dispense gas at a first price. The gas pump may be configured to, in operation, receive, via the input device, an indication of a safe driving reward amount, determined for a safe driving reward, validate a set of restrictions associated with the safe driving reward, determine a second price lower than the first price based, at least in part, on the safe driving reward amount, and dispense gas to the vehicle at the second price.

“A third aspect described herein provides a computer-assisted method of rewarding safe driving behaviors. A special-purpose computing system may receive, from a telematics device, at a safe driving evaluation system, vehicle telematics associated with a vehicle, select a set of safe driving behaviors, and determine a number of safe driving points based, at least in part, on a comparison of the vehicle telematics data to at least one of the safe driving behaviors. Further, the special-purpose computing system may determine a safe driving reward based, at least in part, on the number of safe driving points, and provide the safe driving reward to an individual associated with the vehicle. The individual may be an insurance customer or a non-insurance customer.

“The details of these and other aspects of the disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and description below. Other features and advantages of aspects of the disclosure will be apparent from the description and drawings.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“What is claimed is:

“1. A safe driving evaluation system comprising: at least one processor; a data store storing a plurality of safe driving behaviors and a plurality of unsafe driving behaviors; and memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to: receive, from a mobile telematics device comprising an accelerometer, vehicle telematics data associated with a vehicle, wherein: the mobile telematics device travels within the vehicle during operation of the vehicle and generates at least a portion of the vehicle telematics data using the accelerometer, and the vehicle telematics data characterizes a speed of the vehicle, an acceleration of the vehicle, a braking of the vehicle, and a cornering of the vehicle; receive traffic data associated with a location of the vehicle, wherein the traffic data comprises an indication of one or more accidents associated with the location of the vehicle; identify, by analyzing the vehicle telematics data and the traffic data, one or more driving events that occurred during operation of the vehicle; select, based on the one or more driving events identified, one or more safe driving behaviors from the plurality of safe driving behaviors; select, based on the one or more driving events identified, one or more unsafe driving behaviors from the plurality of unsafe driving behaviors; determine, based at least on a comparison of the vehicle telematics data and the one or more safe driving behaviors selected, a number of safe driving points to award to an individual associated with the vehicle; determine, based at least on a second comparison of the vehicle telematics data and the one or more unsafe driving behaviors selected, a penalty; reduce, based at least on the penalty, the number of safe driving points; determine, based at least on the number of safe driving points, a safe driving reward; determine a plurality of individuals associated with the vehicle; provide, to each individual of the plurality of individuals associated with the vehicle and in a proportion based on a driving time of each individual of the plurality of individuals, the safe driving reward; determine one of the plurality of individuals corresponding to the telematics data; and display, in an interface and based on the one or more safe driving behaviors selected and the one or more unsafe driving behaviors selected; an indication of a portion of the safe driving reward provided to the one of the plurality of individuals; and a driving performance trend of the one of the plurality of individuals during operation of the vehicle, wherein the indication of the driving performance trend identifies strengths and weaknesses of the one of the plurality of individuals.

“2. The system of claim 1 wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the system to: determine, for each of the one or more safe driving behaviors selected, a safe driving score based, at least in part, on a third comparison of the vehicle telematics data and a respective safe driving behavior, wherein determining the number of safe driving points comprises aggregating each safe driving score to obtain the number of safe driving points.

“3. The system of claim 2, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the system to: determine, for each of the one or more unsafe driving behaviors, an unsafe driving score based, at least in part, on a fourth comparison of the vehicle telematics data to a respective unsafe driving behavior, wherein determining the penalty comprises aggregating each unsafe driving score.

“4. The system of claim 3, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the system to: increment a total number of safe driving points associated with the individual by the number of safe driving points.

“5. The system of claim 4, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the system to: determine a safe driving reward amount based, at least in part, on a fifth comparison of the total number of safe driving points associated with the individual to one or more rewards thresholds.

“6. The system of claim 1, wherein the safe driving reward is redeemable at a vehicle service system associated with a gas pump.

“7. The system of claim 1, wherein the safe driving reward is represented as a QR code.

“8. The system of claim 3, wherein: the plurality of safe driving behaviors comprises at least one of: (i) a safe driving behavior based, at least in part, on a total number of instances of speed of the vehicle below a first predetermined speed threshold, (ii) a safe driving behavior based, at least in part, on a total number of instances of acceleration of the vehicle below a first predetermined acceleration threshold, or (iii) a safe driving behavior based, at least in part, on a total number of instances of deceleration of the vehicle below a first predetermined deceleration threshold; and the plurality of unsafe driving behaviors comprises at least one of: (i) an unsafe driving behavior based, at least in part, on a total number of instances of speed of the vehicle above a second predetermined speed threshold greater than or equal to the first predetermined speed threshold, (ii) an unsafe driving behavior based, at least in part, on a total number of instances of acceleration of the vehicle above a second predetermined acceleration threshold greater than or equal to the first predetermined acceleration threshold, or (iii) an unsafe driving behavior based, at least in part, on a total number of instances of deceleration of the vehicle above a second predetermined deceleration threshold greater than or equal to the first predetermined deceleration threshold.

“9. The system of claim 5, wherein the safe driving reward amount is a guaranteed gas price.

“10. A computer-assisted method of rewarding safe driving behaviors comprising: at a safe driving evaluation system comprising one or more processors, a data store, and a network interface: storing, at the data store, a plurality of safe driving behaviors and a plurality of unsafe driving behaviors; receiving, via the network interface from a mobile telematics device comprising an accelerometer, vehicle telematics data associated with a vehicle, wherein: the mobile telematics device travels within the vehicle during operation of the vehicle and generates at least a portion of the vehicle telematics data using the accelerometer, and the vehicle telematics data characterizes a speed of the vehicle, an acceleration of the vehicle, a braking of the vehicle, and a cornering of the vehicle; receive traffic data associated with a location of the vehicle, wherein the traffic data comprises an indication of one or more accidents associated with the location of the vehicle; identifying, based on an analysis of the vehicle telematics data and the traffic data, one or more driving events that occurred during operation of the vehicle; selecting, based on the one or more driving events identified, one or more safe driving behaviors from the plurality of safe driving behaviors; selecting, based on the one or more driving events identified, one or more unsafe driving behaviors from the plurality of unsafe driving behaviors, wherein the one or more safe driving behaviors are weighted based on the insurance policy associated with the vehicle; determining, based on a comparison of the vehicle telematics data to the one or more safe driving behaviors, a number of safe driving points to award to an individual associated with the vehicle; determining, based on a second comparison of the vehicle telematics data to the one or more unsafe driving behaviors, a penalty; reducing, based on the penalty, the number of safe driving points awarded; determining, based on the number of safe driving points awarded, a safe driving reward; determining a plurality of individuals associated with the vehicle; providing, to each individual of the plurality of individuals associated with the vehicle and in a proportion based on a driving time of each individual of the plurality of individuals, the safe driving reward; determining one of the plurality of individuals corresponding to the telematics data; and displaying, in an interface and based on the one or more safe driving behaviors selected and the one or more unsafe driving behaviors selected; an indication of a portion of the safe driving reward provided to the one of the plurality of individuals; and a driving performance trend of the one of the plurality of individuals during operation of the vehicle, wherein the indication of the driving performance trend identifies strengths and weaknesses of the one of the plurality of individuals.

“11. The computer-assisted method of claim 10, further comprising: determining, for each of the one or more safe driving behaviors selected, a safe driving score based at least in part, on a third comparison of the vehicle telematics data to a respective safe driving behavior, wherein determining the number of safe driving points comprises aggregating each safe driving score.

“12. The computer-assisted method of claim 11, further comprising: determining, for each of the one or more unsafe driving behaviors selected, an unsafe driving score based, at least in part, on a fourth comparison of the vehicle telematics a the respective unsafe driving behavior, wherein determining the penalty comprises aggregating each unsafe driving score.

“13. The computer-assisted method of claim 12, further comprising: incrementing a total number of safe driving points associated with the individual by the number of safe driving points.

“14. The computer-assisted method of claim 13, further comprising: determining a safe driving reward amount based, at least in part, on a fifth comparison of the total number of safe driving points associated with the individual to one or more rewards thresholds.

“15. The computer-assisted method of claim 10, wherein the safe driving reward amount is a guaranteed gas price.

“16. A system comprising: a mobile telematics device in a vehicle comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the mobile telematics device to: determine vehicle telematics data of the vehicle using at least an accelerometer, wherein the vehicle telematics data characterizes a speed of the vehicle, an acceleration of the vehicle, a braking of the vehicle, and a cornering of the vehicle; and transmit the vehicle telematics data to a safe driving evaluation device; and the safe driving evaluation device, comprising: one or more second processors; and second memory storing second instructions that, when executed by the one or more second processors; cause the safe driving evaluation device to: receive, from the mobile telematics device, the vehicle telematics data; receive traffic data associated with a location of the vehicle, wherein the traffic data comprises an indication of one or more accidents associated with the location of the vehicle; identify, based on the vehicle telematics data and the traffic data, one or more driving events that occurred during operation of the vehicle; select, based on the one or more driving events identified, one or more safe driving behaviors and one or more unsafe driving behaviors; determine, based at least on a comparison of the vehicle telematics data and the one or more safe driving behaviors, a number of safe driving points to award to an individual associated with the vehicle; reduce, based at least on a second comparison of the vehicle telematics data and the one or more unsafe driving behaviors, the number of safe driving points; determine, based at least on the reduced number of safe driving points, a safe driving reward; determine a plurality of individuals associated with the vehicle; provide, to each individual of the plurality of individuals associated with the vehicle and in a proportion based on a driving time of each individual of the plurality of individuals, the safe driving reward; determine one of the plurality of individuals corresponding to the telematics data; and display, in an interface and based on the one or more safe driving behaviors selected and the one or more unsafe driving behaviors selected; an indication of a portion of the safe driving reward provided to the one of the plurality of individuals; and a driving performance trend of the one of the plurality of individuals during operation of the vehicle, wherein the indication of the driving performance trend identifies strengths and weaknesses of the one of the plurality of individuals.

“17. The system of claim 16, wherein the second instructions, when executed by the one or more second processors, further cause the safe driving evaluation device to: determine, for each of the one or more safe driving behaviors, a safe driving score based at least in part, on a third comparison of the vehicle telematics data to a respective safe driving behavior, wherein determining the number of safe driving points comprises aggregating each safe driving score.

“18. The system of claim 16, wherein the second instructions, when executed by the one or more second processors, further cause the safe driving evaluation device to: determine, for each of the one or more unsafe driving behaviors, an unsafe driving score based, at least in part, on a fourth comparison of the vehicle telematics data to a respective unsafe driving behavior, wherein reducing the number of safe driving points comprises subtracting each unsafe driving score from the number of safe driving points.

“19. The system of claim 16, wherein the second instructions, when executed by the one or more second processors, further cause the safe driving evaluation device to: increment a total number of safe driving points associated with the individual by the number of safe driving points.

“20. The system of claim 19, wherein the second instructions, when executed by the one or more second processors, further cause the safe driving evaluation device to: determine a safe driving reward amount based, at least in part, on a fifth comparison of the total number of safe driving points associated with the individual to one or more rewards thresholds.”

For more information, see this patent: Purgatorio, Ginger; Minick, Gina M.; Mercado, Orlando E. System And Method For Providing Vehicle Services Based On Driving Behaviors. U.S. Patent Number 10,915,964, filed March 3, 2015, and published online on February 22, 2021. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=10,915,964.PN.&OS=PN/10,915,964RS=PN/10,915,964

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